Father of Avicii, Klas Bergling,Talks About Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
Klas Bergling Speaks On Mental Health And Suicide Prevention
On April 20, 2018, music fans worldwide received shocking news that DJ and producer Avicii, a.k.a. Tim Bergling, died at the age of 28 years. The award-winning Swedish artist sadly bled to death after cutting himself with a broken wine bottle in his hotel room in Muscat, Oman. In a statement shortly after Avicii’s death, his family said, “He could not go on any longer. He wanted to find peace”.
One year later, CNN interviewed Avicii’s father, Klas Bergling, as he discussed about mental health and suicide prevention. According to Berling, Avicii displayed no warning signs of mental distress nor talked about suicide.
CNN’s Interview with Klas Bergling
It has been just over a year since Avicii died and his father compared his death to a “traffic accident”. Furthermore, Bergling mentioned that he and Avicii had talked about mental health before; however, he seemed very “happy” before committing suicide. Additionally, both father and son talked with each other on a regular basis about various topics.
Those topics include meditation, love, and life. Sometimes their conversations took up to one and two hours. Berling stated that Avicii’s celebrity DJ status made him take on multiple things at once and this later “put him in an unstable place”.
Avicii’s Legacy
To emphasize the importance of mental health and suicide prevention, Avicii’s family established the Tim Bergling Foundation. The foundation is aimed towards “supporting people and organizations in the field of mental illness and suicide prevention”. The foundation is also active in climate change, nature conservation and protection of endangered species.
Evidence of Avicii’s musical talent remains strong through the recent release of his posthumous album, Tim. At the time of Avicii’s death, he finished recording two-thirds of the album and he collaborated with artists such as Aloe Blacc and Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Currently, the track, “SOS” that he collaborated with Aloe Blacc is now #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. His collaborative track with Chris Martin, “Heaven”, has a music video that contains unseen footage of Avicii in Madagascar.
